After defeating “TUF 6” winner Mac Danzig in his most recent trip the octagon, Lauzon (23-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC) will next meet Michael Chiesa (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is season 15 champion of the long-running reality series.

The two lightweights are scheduled to collide at UFC Fight Night 50, which goes down Sept. 5 from Ledyard’s Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following preliminary-card action on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass.

Lauzon himself was once a contestant on the show, but he came up short among a loaded cast on “TUF 5,” which eventually saw Nate Diaz earn the coveted six-figure UFC contract.

The 30-year-old has a lot of pride in his season and believes it was one of, if not the best to date. Whether that’s true is up for debate, but Lauzon feels every time he defeats a champion from another season, it further elevates the status of his own.

“I just beat Mac Danzig who won ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ at 170,” Lauzon told MMAjunkie Radio. “Chiesa won ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ at 155. I tell people all the time, my season, Season 5, we had the best guys, period. You could argue maybe Season 1 was good too, they had a lot of studs, but Season 5 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ was supreme.

“They gave me a list of a couple guys, and Chiesa was one of the guys. I thought, ‘I just beat a guy who won ‘TUF,’ let’s get another one and establish our season as the best.”

Lauzon has been a member of the UFC roster since his stunning upset of Jens Pulver in his promotional debut in 2006. He has fought some of the best the 155-pound division has to offer from champion Anthony Pettis to veteran competitors like Jim Miller, Michael Johnson, Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner.

Chiesa isn’t quite as established as those names at this point in his career, but according to Lauzon, that doesn’t matter in the slightest. “J-Lau” says he respects every opponent the UFC pits him against, and he believes whether they have one or 100 UFC fights, he’ll be efficiently prepared to compete at his best.

“I’ve been fighting a lot time,” Lauzon said. “I think I’ve had 15 fights in the UFC and like 30-something fights in general. I’m confident that whoever they put across from me I can have a good game plan to beat them and prepare for them and get to work.”

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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